This salade Savoyarde is a simple French salad that is perfect for lunch or as a side dish.
It's just a few simple ingredients, including cheese and bacon, so you know it's going to hit the spot.
It's a great way to use up leftover cooked potatoes too.
Bon appétit!

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❤️ Why you will love this dish
- Ready in 10 minutes.
- Great as a light lunch or side dish.
- Good way to use leftover new potatoes.
Savoyarde is the French word for describing something that comes from the Savoie area of France.
This salad traditionally contains Tomme de Savoie cheese, which is popular in France. It's the oldest cheese in the Savoie region. It's a cow's milk cheese that is firm and is formed in a circle like a Camembert.
It appears that the farmers in the area made this cheese for the winter months after removing the cream to make butter. This means that the cheese is naturally lower in fat than many other cheeses.
It has a very distinctive flavour that is nutty, with hints of mushroom and citrus.
There are many light salads in France and they are often served as a starter at lunchtime in restaurants. It's not uncommon for a fried egg to be served on top too.
This salad is based on a classic recipe, and is ideal if you want to make a French themed spread for friends and family. After all, French cooking doesn't need to be complicated or have a rich sauce.
Delicious as a starter for 4 or a side dish for 2, it can be served with warm potatoes and bacon or completely cold and made in advance.
It's all about simplicity and local ingredients in rustic French food.
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🥘 Ingredients
- Salad - I used a bag of mixed salad leaves for colour, but use what you prefer.
- Potatoes - new potatoes, preferably small.
- Onion - red onion. These are often used in French salads are have a nice sweet crunch.
- Bacon - smoked bacon lardons. These are just pieces of thick cut bacon, cut into small pieces, normally taken from the belly. This means that the fat gets caramelised and gives a great flavour.
- Mustard - Dijon mustard for the vinaigrette dressing.
- Vinegar - white wine vinegar.
- Cheese - if you have a great cheesemonger nearby you may be able to get hold of Tomme de Savoie cheese. Unfortunately, I have only seen it online in the UK, so a good substitute is Gruyère, which has a slightly firmer texture but a deliciously nutty taste.
- Oil - extra virgin olive oil has the best flavour for a salad dressing.
- Seasoning - flaked sea salt and freshly ground black pepper for the dressing a cooking salt for the potatoes.
The printable recipe card with full ingredient quantities and instructions can be found at the bottom of the article.
🍽 Equipment
- sharp knife
- chopping board
- saucepan
- frying pan / skillet
- colander
🔪 Instructions
Cut the new potatoes in half into about 1 inch or 2 centimetre pieces.
This will help them cook quicker. If you have larger new potatoes just cut them to a similar size.
Bring a pan of water to the boil, add the salt and the potatoes.
Simmer for about 10 minutes until fork tender and drain.
Slice the onion thinly and cut the cheese into cubes about half an inch or a centimetre.
Blend the olive oil, vinegar and Dijon mustard and season to taste with the sea salt and black pepper.
💭 Top tip
- The best way to combine salad dressings is to put all the ingredients into a crew top jar. Give it a final shake and dress the salad just before serving.
Put the lardons in a frying pan and cook over a medium heat for about 5 minutes.
There's no need to add any oil as the lardons will cook in their own fat and get crispy.
Assemble the salad.
Divide the salad leaves between 4 dinner plates and sprinkle over the onions.
Arrange the potatoes, lardons and cheese on top.
Drizzle over the dressing and serve.
🥗 Side Dishes
Try salade Savoyarde as a side dish with these recipes.
- Venison Burgers
- Pinchos de Pollo
- Chicken Wing Confit
- French Hot Dog
- Bavette Steak
- Bone in Ribeye
- Cod Cheeks and Chorizo
- Pork Confit
- Chicken Terrine
🥙 Substitutions
- Lardons - use cooked smoked ham or slice bacon into pieces and fry until crisp.
- Red onion - use shallots or spring onions. A sweet Spanish onion would also work.
- Dijon mustard - use whole grain mustard.
- Cheese - try cubes of Emmenthal, mature Cheddar, Muenster or Comté.
📖 Variations
Try these ideas.
- Slices of saucisson - French salami.
- Smoked duck breast
- Cooked asparagus
- Cherry tomatoes
- Cubes of avocado
- Sliced cucumber
- Walnuts
- Hard boiled quail eggs
🍣 Storage
- Refrigerator - cover and store for a day. The salad leaves will be past their best after a few hours.
- Freezer - not suitable for freezing.
🍱 Prepare in Advance
- Cook the bacon and potatoes and make the dressing up to 3 days in advance. Prepare the cheese and onion a few hours before assembling the salad.
Let me know what you think in the comments or you can post a picture and tag me on Twitter @chezlereve, Instagram @chezlerevefrancais, or Facebook @chezlerevefrancais
More salad recipes
📋 Recipe
Salade Savoyarde
Equipment
- colander
- saucepan
- sharp knife
- chopping board
- frying pan skillet
Ingredients
- 120 g salad leaves
- 350 g new potatoes baby potatoes
- ½ red onion
- 155 g smoked bacon lardons
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 100 g Tomme de Savoie cheese or Gruyère
- 3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Cut the new potatoes in half into about 1 inch or 2 centimetre pieces.
- Bring a pan of water to the boil, add the salt and the potatoes.
- Simmer for about 10 minutes until fork tender and drain.
- Slice the onion thinly and cut the cheese into cubes about half an inch or a centimetre.
- Blend the olive oil, vinegar and Dijon mustard and season to taste with the sea salt and black pepper.
- Put the lardons in a frying pan and cook over a medium heat for about 5 minutes.
- Divide the salad leaves between 4 dinner plates and sprinkle over the onions.
- Arrange the potatoes, lardons and cheese on top.
- Drizzle over the dressing and serve.
Disclaimer: The nutritional information provided is approximate and is calculated using online tools. Information can vary depending on various factors, but we have endeavoured to be as accurate as possible.
Detailed instructions for this recipe, including step by step photographs, hints and tips, can be found in the main article.
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Food Safety
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat.
- Wash hands after touching raw meat.
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods.
- Never leave cooking food unattended.
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds.
- Always have good ventilation when using gas.
Do you have a question or did you make the recipe? Please leave a rating as it helps other readers to discover this dish. Your name and email are required to avoid spam comments; they are never used for any purpose or shared with third parties.
However, due to spam comments, I do have to moderate each one, so don't worry if you cannot see your comment immediately. I'll publish your comments as soon as I can.
Dina and Bruce
Bacon, lettuce and potatoes? Oh yeah! This was amazing!!!
TAYLER ROSS
I made this salad for lunch yesterday and it was fantastic! I'll definitely be making it all summer long!
Shadi Hasanzadenemati
It was so delicious and everyone loved it! Thank you for this amazing recipe!
Stephanie
This salad recipe is going straight into my recipe box! The combination of crispy ham, potatoes and greens is great for our summer lunches on the patio (and the dressing is just lovely).
Kate
I brought four bags of greens in from the garden and I needed a way to use them. I had all these other ingredients on hand besides the cheese. It came out yummy!
Beth
This look so good! I've never heard of or seen a salad like this before. I can't wait to try this.
Traci
So many of my favorite ingredients all in one salad. I love that it's customizable too. Thanks for sharing another winner!
dana
Super easy and super tasty! Enjoyed this as a light lunch and it really hit the spot. Thank you!
Sara Welcgh
This was everything a gourmet salad should be, and then some! Enjoyed this for lunch yesterday and it does not disappoint! Light yet hearty and packed with flavor!
Lanie
Yum and Yum. This is one of those recipes you just know is going to turn out. Plus it’s super easy. I’m going to add cucumbers as you suggested. This is dinner tonight!